Information about the Basque Country

The Basque region of Spain comprises three provinces: Alava, Guipuzcoa and Vizcaya. These provinces amount to some 7,261 square kilometres. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz (in the province of Alava).
Like Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia the Basque Country faces the Cantabrian Sea (el Mar Cantabrico).
The coastline has many cliffs and sheer rock faces. The north of the region has many valleys that run parallel to the coast. The tail of the Pyrenees (los Pireneos) is located in the northeast of the region on the French border. The Basque Mountains (los Montes Vascos), between Bilbao and Vitoria, connect the Pyrenees with the Cantabrian Mountains (la Cordillera Cantabrica).

The Basque Country has a mild climate, rarely suffering from extreme temperatures or weather conditions. The northern part of the region (on the coast) has a more Atlantic climate and the southern part has a Mediterranean microclimate.
The provinces of Guipuzcoa and Vizcaya are the most industrialized Basque territories having machine, steel, paper and petrochemical industries. Fishing, agriculture and tourism also play a significant part in these areas. In Alava, agriculture is the most dominant source of revenue.